That was part of my point -- I personally don't have any real overlap with his life context (and I do have people who can discuss my flaws with me, with enough honesty that it's not always comfortable).
But there are people who could seek him out as someone a bit further along than they are, on a similar path, plus some market for people who'll try it for fun.
I think you run some very good points. For me, I agree. I have very few people in my life, but the ones that are happen to be great at notifying me of the things that I do that aren't good.
I'd wager that there a lot of people out there that ultimately do not have such friendships. A lot of people have poor self-esteem and surround themselves with crappy, dishonest, alike people. The idea here is that some of those exact people will have just the amount self-actualization that you need to email this guy. Hopefully this guy is willing and ready to meet these people more than half way and do his best to empathize.
I realize that I just issued a lot of insults to a group of people I explicitly said I do not belong to. Self-acceptance is a great thing to encourage and facilitate though. I wonder if that's this guy's intention...
But there are people who could seek him out as someone a bit further along than they are, on a similar path, plus some market for people who'll try it for fun.